CLeTa Posts

I’m tired of reading blogs and Facebook posts about the most recent court ruling won by Hobby Lobby to refuse its female employees basic women’s health care and discriminate against decisions that should be made with a medical provider. I’ve organized a local protest to create awareness to the local store’s shoppers. We will be there the next three mornings at 9 a.m. until about noon with signs. We hope you will join us or help spread the word. E-mail or send your positive energy to me at cletarose @ gmail.com. Thanks!

You may have noticed some blue kids hanging out along the Lakewalk if you were brave enough to go outdoors today.

April is Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month and First Witness spends each day engaging the community in efforts to make our community a safe place for children to grow and thrive. This is our third year for individuals and businesses to come together and show that We Stand with Kids. Over 300+ blue kids were sponsored this year. The donations go directly to services to child abuse victims and their families for supportive services after a disclosure has been made.

The blue kids are figurines cut out from wood, the size of a typical lawn sign. The color is blue because blue is the color of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention month. The display is along the Lake Walk today (May 5) beginning at Leif Erickson from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m..

We hope you will consider stopping by to check it out and show your support. Rumor is Starbucks donated some coffee to help keep you warm!

I’m old school and used posters to promote an event. I’ve noticed a numerous amount of posters for my upcoming Minerva Zine Party have gone missing or were stolen from sites like Pizza Luce, Carmody, Sir Ben’s. I used multiple tacts and tape to secure them. More Duluth locations require you have the managers approval and are not posted timely. It’s extremely frustrating and expensive for a DIY zine publisher. Any tips, ideas to take out poster thefts, or solutions are appreciated!

Did anyone notice some odd-looking rail cars on the train tracks along I-35 this morning? They appear to be of particularly odd shapes and not like anything I’ve seen before in the area. Any info from PDD? I was driving to work so I was unable to snap a quick photo. They sure look mysterious like some type of submarine or large underground tanks.

If any of you missed the Harbor City Roller Dames first double header and Women’s Flat Track Derby Association sanctioned bout at the DECC, you missed some amazing roller derby action (twice as much as usual).

I publish a free feminist zine every few months and distribute it around Duluth and Superior. I’ve never posted on PDD before about it so I thought I’d try to spread the word. You can find Minerva zines around town at places like Duluth Coffee Co., Electric Fetus, Jitters, Pizza Lucé, Double Dutch, Carmody Irish Pub, Thirsty Pagan Brewing and Red Mug Coffeehouse.

The goal of Minerva is to empower women, educate, and encourage consciousness raising on issues relevant to us by the use of art, collage, images, and words. We strive to promote women to share and value their writing about individual stories and diverse experiences.

If you have more questions or are curious about our fringe publication (with very limited funds and copies), please check out minervazine.com. Peace.

In July of 2011, Justin Sinks put together his first public showing of Bound. Even though it was 15 pieces and only took up half of the gallery, it was, according to Brian Rauvola, owner of the Duluth Photography Institute, “one of the biggest events the DPI had that year.”

His project experienced a set back due to flood damage at Lizzard’s Art Gallery in Duluth. It’s where he normally gets his photos mounted for shows. They are a wonderful local shop that do great work for a very good price. Due to the flood, their equipment was badly damaged and it doesn’t look like they will be able to repair or replace it any time soon. Now, he’s desperately looking for another place that can help him out without charging an arm and a leg on his original projected Kickstarter budget. There is only two days left to reach his pledge goal to be funded!

Please consider checking out his Kickstarter and donating to his amazing show and/or attending the event on August 3 from 5 to 10 p.m.

As a Harbor City Roller Dame, it baffles me that we are yet to reach our goal of selling out tickets at the DECC Pioneer Hall since playing there the Fall of 2010. Many skaters are involved in or support the local arts and music scene. We are professionals that live and work in this community. The Dames give back by selecting a local charity to receive a financial contribution and/or volunteer our time. So it begs me to ask: Why is roller derby not as popular or successful in Duluth as it is in say Minneapolis or even smaller towns like Grand Rapids, MN?

Larger cities support multiple teams and are still successful. While locally we’ve seen numbers fall in the last year as our competitiveness has enhanced (we were undefeated until last month’s bout). Roller derby continues to gain popularity across the nation but is slightly stunted here. We need our fans to show their continued support and find ways to reach other demographics to spread the love of derby in Duluth. Our performance is bolstered by the encouragement of our sports enthusiasts.

Does the PDD community have any thoughts on what we can do to fill our seats? Comments? Feedback?